The CPB said Red London members would be expelled. Does Red London now run their young wing?

Submitted by AWL on 12 November, 2021 - 11:10 Author: Sacha Ismail
YCL protest

The Young Communist League (YCL), youth wing of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), has grown quite a bit in the last few years. It has attracted some attention on the left because of that, but also because of its increasingly disturbing political character.

At the end of August a young woman who had resigned from the YCL posted this video on YouTube. In it she reports that the organisation has come to be dominated by a grouping called Redtek, with unpleasant consequences for the democracy of the organisation and for women members specifically.

Redtek is a new mutation of the group Red London. For a briefing explaining what Red London was / is and what they have done since 2016, see here. In summary, they are an utterly toxic Stalinist-nationalist group who engage in destructive activities reminiscent of the alt-right. Their behaviour has had damaging consequences for many individuals and more widely for the politics of the left.

It seems that this takeover or advance of Redtek / Red London in the YCL has resulted in the organisation becoming dominated by politics far more Stalinist than even those of the CPB. For more about this, see this letter sent to Lawrence Parker’s blog last month by a YCL member. The letter makes clear that, at the very least, out-and-out advocacy of not just of Stalinism in a general sense, but of Stalin and his regime, is now a major force in the YCL. (Guidelines from the CPB which apparently caused such disquiet in the YCL included an admonition not to engage in Holocaust denial, as well as praise of Stalin!)

In recent dealings with the Communist Party of Britain, we were told by a top CPB officer that anyone found to have been involved with Red London would be expelled from the CPB. Yet the evidence strongly suggests that such people now run or close to run the CPB’s youth section.

The fact that the YCL is autonomous from the CPB, and some YCL members are not CPB members, seems secondary in this context. What does the CPB think about the political character of the YCL and the role of Redtek / Red London within it?

The assurance from the CPB about excluding Red London members arose in the context of a complaint I made to them last year. In November 2020 I published a report of what happened at a trade union demonstration two months before. I was accosted, threatened and had vicious abuse hurled at me by a YCL member and officer named Dominic Cerasoli (see picture below), and a few others who seemed to be his comrades. (Picture from the demo below.)

Cerasoli has been closely associated with Red London: see our dossier and also this. He was central to Stalinist attempts to takeover and split Lewisham Momentum, before falling out with his Lewisham comrades, in part because of allegations of bad behaviour by him and in part because his Stalinist-nationalist politics were too extreme for them.

I was particularly concerned to complain about the incident at the demo because Red London have a record going back to their founding of targeting many critical-minded and anti-Stalinist socialists for abuse, including me on a number of occasions.

I thought Cerasoli was a member of the Communist Party of Britain, so I contacted them. CPB national chair Liz Payne got back to me quickly, and told me that Cerasoli was not a member of the CPB, but only of the YCL. I discovered he was not only a YCL member but an officer of the organisation in London (eg see here - though now, returning to this link, I see the YCL have only removed the reference to Cerasoli's position, but changed the name under his picture (!), presumably to evade websearches.)

Liz Payne put me in touch with the YCL. I spoke to their general secretary Johnnie Hunter, who said they took the issue seriously and would investigate. There were then many long delays, some of them months long, punctuated at first by short messages promising to get back to me and then by failures to respond. Eventually I got a very strangely worded email, which I include below, saying that they had "investigated" and "discussed" with Cerasoli but would not tell me anything. I replied, pointing out this was nonsensical and unacceptable. No reply. I emailed again - still no reply. Of course this makes sense given the political evolution of the YCL.

Liz Payne was extremely forceful – and from what I can tell genuine – in denouncing Red London (and denouncing Cerasoli’s antics). She told me more than once, very clearly, that anyone found to be involved with Red London would be expelled from the CPB.

I can only imagine how she feels about the Redtek / Red London takeover drive in the YCL. The CPB’s response to this problem is up to them, but the wider labour movement and left should know the facts.

Dominic Cerasoli on the September 2020 demo where he accosted and threatened our comrade Sacha Ismail. Note on the t-shirt: "Redtek"

Comments

Submitted by AWL on Fri, 12/11/2021 - 11:37

Dear Mr Ismail

I hope you are well and safe despite the difficult times we find ourselves in.

I am writing to you again as I understand you may not have received my previous correspondence. Apologies for the delay and any inconvenience which may have resulted.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to contact the YCL regarding the allegations you have raised.

I can confirm these allegations have been investigated and discussed with the individual concerned.

Although I am unable to comment on what in fact transpired, I am of course sorry that distress and upset has been caused to you personally.

Should you have any further concerns in future, please do not hesitate to contact the YCL and and we will investigate and take action as appropriate.

I will contact you by WhatsApp also in order to confirm safe receipt.

Very best of luck with your future endeavours.

Kind regards

Johnnie Hunter
General Secretary
Young Communist League of Britain

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